Update on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (10-30-99)

Most Recent ActionBy a vote of 12-8, H.R. 1487, a bill that was
created as a direct consequence of President Clinton's creation of the
Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument, slid past the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, October 20th. Opposition
came from the conservative end, with some senators hoping to pass Sen.
Larry Craig's (R-ID) bill, S.
729 instead. S. 729 would require Congress' approval of national
monument designations. Craig's bill also instructs the land management
agencies to gather information on the surface and subsurface resources
present at the proposed site, identify land ownership in the area, and
conduct hearings on the potential designation and prepare environmental
studies in accordance with NEPA. (Greenwire, 10/20/99).

After several years of negotiation, the federal government has agreed
to pay Portland-based Pacificorp $5.5 million for coal leases located in
the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Greenwire, 10/18/99).
This deal follows an early October settlement in which Andelex Resources
agreed to turn over Federal coal leases located within the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument to the Federal Government in exchange for $14 million.
Andelex had designated 34,499 acres of land as the site of a coal mine
before the land became protected in 1996. The Department of the Interior
has yet to reach a compromise with Conoco, which has 106,518 acres of leases
within the monument (Salt Lake Tribune, 10/02/99). Earlier this year,
several similar agreements involving grazing rights were made between southern
Utah ranching families and the BLM (Greenwire, 01/05/99).

Current CongressThe Clinton Administration's creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument in 1996 sparked a great deal of controversy over the
president's ability to create a national monument without congressional
approval or public input. In the current Congress, H.R.
1487, "A bill to provide for public participation in the declaration
of national monuments under the Act popularly known as the Antiquities
Act of 1906," was a direct consequence of this controversy. A summary
of hearings regarding this bill can be
found on the AGI web site. H.R. 1487 passed the House on September
24th and was referred to the Senate on September 27th.

President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
in Utah over two years ago, setting aside the land as "exemplary opportunities
for geologists, paleontologists, archeologists, historians, and biologists."
The monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which was charged
by the original presidential proclamation to develop a management plan
within three years. Earlier this year, BLM accepted comments on a
draft plan that includes five alternatives, which place varying degrees
of emphasis on scientific research in the monument.. Given the monument's
creation for scientific purposes, a number of geoscientists have raised
concerns over restrictions on access for research and education. The draft
plan, which was released in July, is available on the web at http://www.ut.blm.gov/monument.